Should I get a price capped or green energy tariff? Article Discussion Area

bristolleedsfan

shjo558 wrote: »

I have went with Martins advice and capped with Scottish Power.

Bit scared now - how much will my payments go up by?!!

:T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T

Tricia2008

After reading the advice from Martin we decided to sign up for a capped tariff yesterday, it seemed like the most sensible thing to do as our duel bill would only increase by £7 a year and it was £15 cash back for switching.

We really can't afford another rise this year, so fingers crossed we have made the right choice.

Paul_J

Please excuse the sceptic in me, but the energy co's must be laughing their little socks off at the hundreds of thousands of people voluntarily giving them extra money each month (in the form of signing up for a capped tariff) in anticipation of 'a massive rise' which may not happen for months, if at all!
They are going to be even more quids in than they would be if they never 'let on' about this impending doom of a price hike.
These big energy co's started off the rumours, "Psst, big price hikes, and I mean BIG, on the way. Best get a capped deal ASAP!"
C'mon, they're there to make money, not give us financial tips.

This whole thing stinks.
Its a money spinner, and we are the fish in the barrel being shot at!

Ms_Chocaholic

I listened to Martin on R2 yesterday and have gone ahead and switched to Scottish Power fixed tariff; I was on Eon Energy Online Extra Saver Standing Charge 6.

Now reading this thread I don't know whether I should have ... I've got a 7 day cooling off period though so a few days to think about it.

bristolleedsfan

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

I listened to Martin on R2 yesterday and have gone ahead and switched to Scottish Power fixed tariff; I was on Eon Energy Online Extra Saver Standing Charge 6.

Now reading this thread I don't know whether I should have ... I've got a 7 day cooling off period though so a few days to think about it.

Hope uve at least done the switch through a cashback site, both Cashback kings and quidco are paying 62.00 cashback for a dual fuel switch to SP.

Peartree

After being told by npower that today was my last opportunity to move to their capped tariff, I went into something of a panic. However, I've come home, read my meters and sat down with a spreadsheet to do a bit of working out.

I been on the comparison sites and my current npower tariff is, indeed, still the cheapest variable tariff I could get by some 15%. If I move to their capped tarrif I will immediately be paying nearly 30% extra and it is only capped until the end of March next year. There are other capped tariffs available, and for longer, but they will cost me a minimum of 40% more than I am paying now and, in the case of the longest cap (British Gas until the end of next year, 50%).

The way I see it (and correct me if I'm wrong here as I do go a bit fuzzy with percentages), the only way I would benefit with the npower fix is if my TOTAL fuel bill between now and the end of March were to be 30% more expensive than it would be at the price I'm paying today. That could happen if my current tariff increases by 30% tomorrow or if, in stages, it goes up by considerably more than 30% over the 8 months. Similarly with the 40% to 50% extra I'd have to pay for the longer term fixes.

Given that I'm also slightly cynical about the energy companies offering fixes (they've got the analysts looking at the market and I would suggest are extremely unlikely to be offering deals that will ultimately cost them money) I think I'm inclined to gamble on it.

PS Npower have given me an extension on deciding until the end of tomorrow since they messed me around so much proving the info - 24 days to fail to answer a simple e-mail query!

bristolleedsfan

Peartree wrote: »

IThe way I see it (and correct me if I'm wrong here as I do go a bit fuzzy with percentages), the only way I would benefit with the npower fix is if my TOTAL fuel bill between now and the end of March were to be 30% more expensive than it would be at the price I'm paying today. That could happen if my current tariff increases by 30% tomorrow or if, in stages, it goes up by considerably more than 30% over the 8 months. Similarly with the 40% to 50% extra I'd have to pay for the longer term fixes.

!

Also if u stay on variable rate tariffs u are free to switch supplier and gain cashback in the region of 50.00-60ish pound for a dual fuel switch.

Browntoa

Eons Price cap is penalty free, so you can "jump ship" whenever you like prices do not rise like Martin says

the EDF increase if followed by eon , will negate the increased cost of the units on the capped tariff I am on with them , any more increases will be a saving

anteater

I was today poised to switch to a capped rate but pulled back at the last minute when I discovered it would cost about 28% more.

I'm currently with E-on Online Super Saver 5 & I get an 18% discount on the unit prices. When I initially phoned to enquire about the capped rate, I was led to believe that I would be paying approx 15% more which I thought was probably worth it (6% more for the unit prices and loss of 9% of the discount). I did a few sums and called back to switch only to find out that the hike was over 15% on the unit price PLUS the loss of 9% of the discount. I've decided not to take the gamble and will stick with my current tariff for now.

phizzimum

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

I listened to Martin on R2 yesterday and have gone ahead and switched to Scottish Power fixed tariff; I was on Eon Energy Online Extra Saver Standing Charge 6.

Now reading this thread I don't know whether I should have ... I've got a 7 day cooling off period though so a few days to think about it.

I know what you mean! But I was worried that the capped rates would disappear or be increased.

We were with EDF and had been for a few years now, and I'd been meaning to change for a while. The price hike gave me the motivation I needed. I went through quidco (it hasn't tracked yet) so the £72 from them should offset the increase in fuel for a couple of months at least